The Best Christmas Ads Of All Time

Christmas Is For Sharing- Sainsbury’s, 2014

Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, Sainsbury’s decided to partner with the British Royal Legion and make their Christmas ad a spin on the famous story of British and German soldiers across the Western Front holding a truce and playing games of football on Christmas Day. Each side’s men approach each other tentatively before exchanging names, putting their arms around each other, and enjoying the temporary peace- before having to go back to their trenches.

song: silent night

The Long Wait- John Lewis, 2011

The retail giant had been building a reputation for Christmas adverts for a while before this one, but The Long Wait is where big, emotional festive ads really became a national sport. Featuring a young boy desperately waiting for Christmas Day to arrive, it seems like he’s counting down the days to open new presents- but it turns out he’s just bursting to give a gift he’d been saving himself for weeks to his parents. Christmas in Britain was never the same again.

Song: Slow Moving Millie’s cover of The Smiths’ Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want”

Holidays Are Coming- Coca-Cola, 1995, recurring

It’s one of the first signs that the Christmas season is well and truly here- a convoy of red trucks drives through the dark of winter with sleigh bells and the chant of “Holidays are Coming!” Coca-Cola’s annual ad has become a festive staple, with versions of it airing ever since 1995. The soft drink giant also sends out trucks loaded with Cokes on tours around the country, so you can indulge yourself in a bit of fizzy goodness.

Song: Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming) by Melanie Thornton

Mog’s Christmas Calamity, Sainsbury’s, 2015

Another Sainsbury’s classic, Mog’s Christmas Calamity saw the return of the beloved Mog the Cat from the children’s book series by Judith Kerr. Now in CGI-animated form, the ad sees our feline friend stirring awake on Christmas Eve to find that she’s accidentally started a fire, and things get chaotically out of hand. She saves her family by mistakenly dialling the fire services- but the house is still burned down. But of course, in heart-warming fashion, Mog and her family are then invited to go and have Christmas dinner with the sympathetic neighbourhood. It’s all narrated by Emma Thompson, too.

Featured song: none

The Snowman, Irn Bru, 2006

Scottish drink company Irn Bru looked to a classic children’s Christmas figure, Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman, for their Christmas advert back in 2006, and it became a mainstay of Christmas in Scotland. A kid makes a snowman, who takes him flying over Scottish landmarks- but while they might have kept the Aled Jones-Esque tones of Walking Through The Air, when you actually listen to the lyrics you’ll realise the boy is singing about the fizzy favourite, and how he’s not giving it up for anyone. The Snowman however has ideas, and grabs the can anyway, leaving the boy to fall to the ground into a heap of snow as he soars away. No Irn-Bru, no flying, apparently.

Featured song: Walking Through The Air (or, I’m Sipping On An Irn Bru)

Kevin the Carrot- Aldi, 2016

Aldi decided to turn the humble carrot into their Christmas mascot back in 2016, with a cute little orange character called Kevin. The original was pretty simple, seeing the intrepid carrot making his way across a Christmas table and dodging various hazards like a grater and flaming Christmas pudding to land and fall asleep next to a mincepie- all to meet Santa. Sure enough, the pie and Kevin are then taken by the jolly old Nick, and the carrot is whisked away for a sleigh ride. Subsequent ads though have expanded the Kevin world, featuring him falling in love, performing in a vegetable circus and various other exploits. The Kevin Cinematic Universe is only just beginning. He’s back this year, too, with a tale about a Christmas factory.

Featured song: None

Paddington and The Christmas Visitor, M&S, 2017

Another supermarket chain, another popular kid’s character team up- this time it’s M&S bringing Paddington Bear onboard, some years before he became an unofficial mascot for the Queen. The 2017 ad sees the famed bear, reliably voiced by Ben Wishaw, helping Santa (or at least a man who he thinks is Santa) helping to deliver presents across the town. He’s actually helping a burglar who’s been nicking presents from people’s houses, but Paddington, inadvertently acting as one of the Ghosts of Christmas from Dickens, helps the thief see the error of his ways by delivering a present to a girl named Alice, who’s overjoyed. The ad became somewhat controversial though because people seemed to think it ended with “Santa” rather colourfully telling the Bear where he can stick it, but in reality, he was just saying “Thank You.” Honest.

Monty the Penguin- John Lewis, 2014

If the Sainsbury’s WWI ad wasn’t your fave Christmas commercial of 2014, then you were probably Team Monty. A wide-eyed boy becomes chums with a CGI penguin called Monty; everyone went crazy for it, and John Lewis has been chasing the high ever since. The penguin oddly starts staring at anyone and everyone who’s kissing- it turns out he’s desperate for a mate, so the boy gifts him a female penguin for Christmas. They’re actually just toys though, and part of the boy’s imagination, but Monty remains in the public consciousness.

Featured song: Tom Odell’s cover of Real Love

M&S- Love Thismas, Not Thatmas

Usually it’s John Lewis or Sainsbury’s that has the most talked about ad of the year, but M&S took it in 2023- not because it was so heart-warming, but instead because it caused controversy. At first glance it’s pretty standard modern Christmas fare, with celeb appearances from Tan France, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Hannah Waddingham making preparations for dinners and parties, until it makes an about turn and suggests chucking away your festive pet peeves: torching Christmas cards, tossing away board games, binning crackers. According to M&S, it’s supposed to be about not doing Christmas traditions you don’t like, but that didn’t stop legions of people on the internet from claiming it was anti-Christmas. Regardless, we’re putting it on the list.

Featured song: Ray BLK’s cover of I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)

Lidl, A Magical Christmas

Lidl this year decided to tell a story about a racoon feeling left out in the cold, wandering around town before stumbling across a toy monkey. Said toy monkey is a present for a boy living in the house next to the racoon’s hiding place, which had accidentally dropped onto the street. So our little furry friend decides to deliver it personally, braving busy roads, a train tunnel and even a river using a makeshift raft. Finally, he gets it under the tree before being chased away by the family dog, but the boy is overjoyed so it’smission accomplished. It’s a bit odd because racoons don’t actually live in the UK- but still, it’s cute right?

Featured song: Guide The Way Back Home by Holiday

Boots, Give Joy

Boots’ ad is another “going on a journey” story, with a young girl asking one of those questions only kids think of: “Who gives presents to Santa?” Feeling that Old St Nick might be in need of a gift himself, she and her mum hop in the car and head off to the North Pole. As they hop to destinations, they give out gifts to people they meet along the way, like a man who tows their broken-down car and a staff member on the train. Finally, they arrive at the pole and climb all the way up to Santa’s house before dropping a gift of flight socks to Mr Claus. Good music and a solid gag to end on- it’s a winner.

Featured song: I’m Gonna Get There Somehow by Val Doonican

Amazon, Joy Ride

Online shopping giant Amazon decided to use a secret weapon for 2023: grannies. A trio of nice old ladies are sitting on a bench overlooking a sledging hill, presumably reminiscing about times gone by. One of them gets the idea to order a box (from Amazon of course), which contains seat cushions, allowing them to once again hit the slopes. The emotional climax is of a flashback to them as children, before cutting back to them feeling that same joy as adults. Cynics might turn their noses up at it, but it’s sentimental without being too syrupy. It also follows the ongoing British ad tradition of using a cover of a Beatles song.

Featured song: An instrumental cover of The Beatles’ In My Life

John Lewis, Snapper: The Perfect Tree

Another John Lewis ad, another kid with an odd pet: this time around the retailer tells the story of a boy buying seeds for a “perfect Christmas tree”. But as it grows, it turns into a huge Little Shop of Horrors-style plant called Snapper that wreaks havoc. The boy is pleased and loves his snappy new friend, the rest of his family less so. Mum decides enough is enough, and drags the huge writhing plant outside into the freezing cold, where it starts to frost as the family sets up a traditional tree. Undeterred, the son wakes up to take a present from under the tree and heads out to give it to the plant, and as his relatives join him, Snapper returns gifts back to them.

Featured song: Festa by Andrea Bocelli